AWI Quarterly » 2012 Spring

The mission of the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) is to “enhance the quality of research, teaching, and testing by promoting humane, responsible animal care and use,” and the organization awards accreditation to institutions that are deemed to “meet or exceed AAALAC standards” regarding animal care.

Shelby Grebenc runs an Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) egg operation in Broomfield, Colorado. Every morning, she gets up at dawn to take care of her 130 pasture-raised Leghorns, Ameraucanas, Rhode Island Reds, and Plymouth Rocks—plus some “strays” that people have dropped on her doorstep... which, incidentally, is how the farm came by its colorful name: Happy Chapped Chicken Butt Farm.

Chad and Jodi Ray, owners of Animal Welfare Approved Ray Family Farms, were honored by the Obama administration as “Champions of Change” in connection with the president’s Winning the Future initiative.

In a joint study, scientists at Johns Hopkins’ Center for a Livable Future (CLF) and Arizona State University found evidence suggesting that a class of antibiotics previously banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for poultry production is still in use. The antibiotics detected—fluoroquinolones—were found in 8 of 12 samples of feather meal in a multi-state study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Online retailer Amazon.com removed whale meat products from its Japanese website in February after a single day of public protests and a stern rebuke from the U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

AWI previously reported on our efforts to dissuade tourists from the United States and other countries from bringing whale meat purchased in Iceland back home (See Winter 2011 AWI Quarterly). Joined now by almost 100 other NGOs around the world, we are urging a number of governments whose citizens travel in significant numbers to Iceland to warn travelers that importing whale products is illegal.

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin’s round and beakless head is striking—reminding some of the iconic Pac-Man. But unlike the enduring video game character, this dolphin has been in steady decline since the 1970s.

Peru’s northwest shoreline above Chiclayo is beautifully desolate—sandy dunes running into the surf for over a hundred miles. In January, locals reported dead dolphins washing up on the beaches, but little notice was generated.

President Obama denied a permit in January for the Keystone XL pipeline’s proposed route over the border from Canada, across the critically important Ogallala Aquifer, on down to the Gulf of Mexico. At an Oklahoma photo-op in March, however, the president expressed support for expedited construction of a southern pipeline leg below the aquifer.

For three weeks in March, Jefferson salamanders have the right of way on a busy stretch of road in Burlington, Ontario. Only about 100 of the threatened amphibians (known locally as “Jeffies”) exist in the area, within a forested stretch along the Niagara Escarpment.